Mathematics Courses at Durham University 2015-2016 (Year 1)

Might want to remove the last three, they aren't for mathmos.

Hey I'll be studying maths as a part of Natural Sciences. Will be great to be able to get help here from people who can actually do maths haha.

pro tip: doesn't matter how much work you do for your dynamics exam, you still won't be able to do any of the questions

What Maths modules are you planning on doing?(please vote on the poll also)What other modules will you be taking?I may be doing Foundations of Physics for my optional module if I do then the course I would be taking would potentially be identical to someone doing Natural Science(Maths and Physics) but doing Maths will give me the freedom to do some more Maths instead like Statistics but probably not Discrete as it doesn't look great.

The problem I have is I want to do Statistics and Foundations of Physics but that would be too many credits so it would have to be Statistics and Astronomy or Foundation of Physics and I am not sure which one to pick, I really need to see the past papers for all the courses before I decide I may even decide to do Discrete to do all Maths but I have to do more coursework which is putting me off and it doesn't sound exciting.

if you have any questions on Calculus/Prob, Lin Alg, or Foundation 1 I will be happy to answer.

Also I think you are a little optimistic trying to do past papers before you have even started the course!

I am not trying to do past papers I need the past papers to show me what the course is like I need to know how mathematical these units are and how tough the mathematics is.How mathematical is Foundation 1?

You can find past papers in the library tab on DUO.

Obviously a physics module is going to be mathematical, the biggest thing you will notice is that basically every part of the course makes full use of calculus (in A level you would have go through your entire physics course without seeing a single integral) however do not expect the mathematical rigour that you will get in the maths modules. Physics is hard, not because of the maths, but because of knowing how to approach/ setup a problem.

Would it be a good module for a Mathematician, as Statistics seems to repeat a lot of Probability from Calculus and Probability/A Level(I did S1-S4) and seems too basic and discrete looks very boring and horrible and you have to do a presentation.I could do Statistics and Astronomy but I am thinking of Foundations of Physics.

Is the Dynamics that bad?What is the Programming like as I haven't done much of that?I'm really worried about the compulsory computer work for the module and I thought Dynamics looked alright.What mark did you get for the whole unit?What optional units did you study and why?

I really can't tell you anything about statistics or astronomy, I can tell you about foundations. One major plus of doing foundations is that in theory you have a chance of transferring to do physics on the off chance you want to.

Would it be a good module for a Mathematician, as Statistics seems to repeat a lot of Probability from Calculus and Probability/A Level(I did S1-S4) and seems too basic and discrete looks very boring and horrible and you have to do a presentation.I could do Statistics and Astronomy but I am thinking of Foundations of Physics.

Pretty sure the Astronomy module is well received. Almost all the physics lecturers are astro based and Durham's leading for astrophysics. All the lectures/lecturers I've had in any astro modules have been pretty amazing (and been my favorite modules).

I have chosen Foundations of Physics(I need it to be approved during Induction week).I thought Astronomy looked very good but I didn't want to do either Statistics or Discrete and didn't want to do any other 20 credit module and if you don't do Foundations then you won't be able to do any Physics after Year 1 but doing it leaves me open to the option of switching to Maths and Physics(as part of Natural Science)/Maths and Physics modules in Natural Science.

Also, I think Foundations of Physics is much more mathematical than Astronomy as indicated by the requirements of the module(only an AS in Maths is needed for Astronomy I think).Foundations will crossover well with Programming and Dynamics and prepare me better for Mathematical Physics options in later years(those modules look to be the most appealing to me).

Sounds about right. I would warn you, Foundations has A LOT of content. Afaik its a merged module so you have a double exam. When I sat it I had 2x 3 hour exams, you will have a 4 hours exam with half an hour break.

Yes it is a double module so other people would take 2 other modules so its not that bad and there is crossover between Foundations of Physics and Programming and Dynamics.I didn't know about a 4 hour exam it says on the website that its 2x3 hour exams and that they are changing the 2nd paper this year.I would prefer 1 4 hour exam to 2x3 hour exams it means 2 hours less of examination.Do you know anything about Quantum Info(apparently its a Level 3 module but I can't find any information on it to know whether to consider taking it in Year 3).